Home made pillowcases

Sorority Pillowcase

Sorority Pillowcase

I like making pillowcases.  They are quick and fun to do.  I joined Tri Sigma National Sorority while in college in Louisiana, therefore the Saints pillowcase.  The sailboat one is also associated with my sorority, it is one of our symbols.  We are forever moving forward.  I have not had the letters embroidered on it yet.

You need 27" for the body and 10" for the cuff.  Some people like to add a band and that will need to be 3".

You can buy matching or coordinating fabric for your pillowcase.  For the band I have used fabric and ribbon and if you want you can use ricrac.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Lay the cuff down right side up.

Iron band, wrong sides together, lengthwise and place on top of cuff with raw edges even.

Place pillow case portion, right side down, on top and pin all three layers together.  [You may omit the band if it doesn't work for the fabrics you have chosen.]

Once pinned, fold the pillowcase portion in half, an inch from the top.  Fold the pillowcase portion in half two more times.  You should now be able to see the cuff.

Fold the cuff up over everything and pin.  The band and the pillowcase portion should now be inside of the cuff.

Sew 1/4" from edge.  Remove all pins.  Pull the band and pillowcase portion from inside of cuff

Iron the cuff at seam to be smooth on both sides, then create crease on other side of cuff.

Fold in half lengthwise and sew seam together, then sew bottom seam together.  Once both seams are done you can then serge the seams together so they will not ravel.

If you do not have a serger then you will need to do French seams.

The first always takes awhile to make.  But once you've done this two or three times you will no longer need the pattern and it will come naturally.  I rarely use the band, but that is a personal preference.

Now, you can pillowcases for your children or grandchildren, so when they go on sleep overs, s/he will know exactly which pillow is theirs.  There won't be any arguments.

Flag Day/July 4th project

Front door hanger

This was June's project.  Great to hang on the door in both June and July.

Very simple project.  Cut a 3/4" board 9x18, drill holes on top on each side for hanger.  Sand the board first to get rid of rough edges and loose pieces of board due to cutting.  Take dry cloth and remove dust from sanding.

tape off top edge to have 6" and paint dark blue.  after it is dry remove masking tape and you will have a nice even space for your star section.

next, place tape over blue edge to keep it smooth and clean.

I did seven stripes, but you can do only five if you wish.  It is all up to you; it depends on how wide you want your stripes.  It is hanging on your door so you should get what you want.

place masking tape along long edge to make smooth lines for strips.  I then painted the red stripes.  I left my "white" stripes natural as opposed to the cream as in the star.

While the stripes are drying place a star cutout on the blue and paint it cream.  You can do white if you want.  Remember, this is your project, so do what makes you happy.

After the project is completely dry then take a sander and go over entire project.  This will help make it look rustic.

The final step is the hanger.  Get a wire gauge heavy enough to hold your board and cut to length you want.  Put one piece through right side, from the back and curl into four or five circles.  This can easily be accomplished by wrapping it around the handle of your foam paint brush.  The put the other side through the left side, from the back and wrap it also four or five times around your foam paint brush.  the last step is optional.  Take some raffia and tie it into a bow around the top of the hanger.  If your nail is small enough it should cover the nail while hanging.

This was an easy project and best done with several friends.  Enjoy the project and the company.